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by Judith Chirgwin

This past winter I attended Crufts for the first time. The following are my impressions.

Every dog show to which I've ever been has seemed unique in some way. But none could have prepared me for the quality, variety, and quantity at Crufts. I was saying goodby to Crufts 2000, as the first Crufts International will begin in 2001 at the NEC in Birmingham, England, which will allow entries of dogs from countries no longer required to be quarantined upon arrival in Great Britain. The present site of The Kennel Club's official show at the Birmingham International Airport is enormous by any standards, with five giant-sized, interlinked airplane hangars amazingly filled with vendors, breeders, exhibitors, dogs, dogs, dogs, and the general dog loving British public. If it isn't here, it isn't anywhere.

I arrived nonstop from Newark, New Jersey into the spring time of daffodils, crab apple trees, and forsythia, all in full bloom. The very expensive hotel at the show site was passed up for a room in a standard English inn with a dining room and a pub where dogs and real "draft" mingled. My room with a private bath overlooked a spring garden just waking up from the winter. The staff were experienced and helpful at every turn. I was very comfortable there.

Upon my arrival a young boxer breeder/handler invited me to go with her to the heart of Birmingham as she needed to purchase a blouse. Now I'm old enough to know that Birmingham suffered dreadful bombing during WWII, but I was unprepared for the effective restoration that has taken place to incorporate new construction with the old in the center of the city that remained.

The next day as soon as Crufts first opened I was at the door with a ticket kindly given me by a boxer member of The Kennel Club and I do mean THE Kennel Club. Aisle upon aisle of vendors with all types of dog related items radiated out from enormous show rings along with rows of benches where each dog spent a day waiting to go into the ring. As boxers were not being shown that first day, I roamed in a systematic way as many aisles as possible, attempting to remember where I wanted to return on later days. The dog food sites I luckily could avoid as most of the products were available in the USA. At many booths the items made of leather were of very fine quality, but with the US dollar exchanging for only 54 shillings, I passed up most of these. One vendor that fascinated me was a designer of wrought iron silhouettes used as gates, wind directors, kennel plate names, etc. His work was extraordinarily fine and creative at the same time.

Although no boxers were being shown that day, I still had to stop briefly at other ringsides to watch different breeds. After that I toured the breed booths set up in one area of the venue where each club had a representative and at least one dog of each breed with endless amounts of literature. Although I've loved and paid attention to dogs all of my life, I stopped counting the unusual breeds that I'd never seen nor even heard of.

The Kennel Club does something every club should consider doing by providing the international guest two places of welcome: one large lounge to rest in comfortable ease, and another right among the exhibits for a cup of hot tea and a biscuit (cookie) served by real wait staff. Large bouquets of flowers lent an air of spring and graciousness to each place.

As many who know me also know, I love the British boxer having imported the famous, natural-eared Standing Ovation of Redfyre (Beth), dam of UK CH Redfyre's Prima Donna, bred, owned, and loved by the late Norma Byerley. Beth's grandsire was the famous UK CH Tyegarth's Famous Grouse, an equal to the US Trapper, Fashion Hint, or Bang Away as a sire. Beth when bred to CH Bropat's Red Alert of Asgard ABC SOM produced my US CH Seapal's Averøy of Redfyre. Averøy is my paternal ancestral home in a northern Norwegian fjord from which for at least 400 years my family set to sea.

The day boxers were being shown I set my collapsible US camping chair on the diagonal corner of the ring from the dog judge so as to see as much as possible in that ring. By pivoting to my right I was able to look across the adjacent boxer bitch ring also; however, my short chair kept me too low to see easily into the second ring.

Before the boxers entered the ring I walked the bench rows of dogs where many boxer friends from years past were with their entries. Walking those rows of boxers with those mushy faces and expressive eyes was as thrilling as ever before. Right beside the ring at various stations the different clubs and organizations had tables selling boxers items, a few of which I bought to support their clubs and interests.

Once the boxers entered the ring, I settled down to watch and photograph as much as possible. Many British and international boxer breeders came to that corner. A few chairs away I was surprised to see Sjur Hall whom I met many, many years ago in Oslo when I was visiting my family. I was especially pleased that acquaintances from my past GB ringside visits and their USA-ABC visits graciously stopped by for a chat during the show. I don't know if it is true for other dog breeds, but the world over, boxer lovers share a sense of camaraderie. I encourage everyone to join in the opportunity to meet each other at this and other shows, as with boxer lovers there are no borders.

Shortly I will be returning to England with three US boxer breeders, two of them judges with whom I will not only have the exciting pleasure for the first time of seeing the show at the Windsor Castle site, but also tour England. On a previous trip with them, I had an unforgettable experience as they were educated at Oxford and love Great Britain. We are dragging a dear boxer friend, kicking and screaming (she hates to fly), but to whom we made an offer she could not refuse. Cream tea and all, here we return to that green isle, and hopefully for many years to come.

Windsor: First Impressions

The indoors Crufts 2000 and outdoors Windsor Dog Show created particularly unique and different responses within me. First, the physical settings are so opposite: Crufts inside five enormous airplane-sized hangars on the edge of Birmingham airport, and Windsor with a ring of white tents and awnings outdoors in a sweeping green park. There just is nothing like Crufts, but Windsor did remind me of the beautiful setting of the Westchester Kennel Club summer show in the unlimited park of an historical site overlooking the Hudson River in New York State. However, HRH Queen Elizabeth II's castle is a "tad" larger than the modest structure at Westchester.

The Crufts rings are many times the size of the Windsor rings. The very polite crowds at both venues are in a similar ratio. The hundreds of vendors at Crufts required days of my investigation. At Windsor an hour's browsing satisfied my buying needs.

I was absorbed by exploring the exhibits of dogs, clubs, performances, vendors, etc. at Crufts, where I could easily have spend many more days if my legs would hold up. The attractive overseas visitors' tea rooms at both sites were very graciously staffed (with Crufts having near the show entrance an additional hotel-sized area which I didn't find until my last day). Many times at both sites I stopped for a rest, a cup of tea, and a biscuit (cookie to us), which by the way were free.